Hong Kong startup plans to open a local Bitcoin ATM network. Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange HKCEx (Hong Kong Crypto Exchange) says it plans to set up a series of Bitcoin ATMs at some of the largest shopping and financial centers in the city (hat-tip to TechNode for spotting).
The company’s recent $2 million funding from local investors will go toward the first 10 ATMs. Users can buy and sell Bitcoin, Litecoin, Namecoin, Novacoin, and Peercoin using either Hong Kong or American dollars. All transactions go through the startup’s exchange, which also sets the exchange rates. Update February 28, 2014 @17:00 - Looks like HKCEx and Robocoin aren’t the only new kids on the block. ANXBTC also just launched its Bitcoin ATMs in Hong Kong. The rest of Greater China has been less welcoming to Bitcoin-based businesses. Hong Kong, on the other hand, has publicly stated it will not regulate Bitcoin. (Editing by Josh Horwitz) Open Bitcoin ATM. Startups Race to Install London's First Bitcoin ATM. Three companies are competing to install London’s first bitcoin ATM in the coming weeks.
The firms, all startups, are awaiting the delivery of their machines from manufacturers Robocoin and Lamassu. They say they have locations staked out, but are keeping mum until they are ready to make an official public announcement. The firm with the most ambitious plan is Global Bitcoin ATM Ltd. The bootstrapped startup plans to install five machines per month in the UK, starting in London. It eventually plans to install machines globally, according to its spokesperson, Terry James. Global Bitcoin says it has a high street location somewhere in central London in mind for its first machine, a Robocoin unit, which it expects to receive and install in early February.
“The first machine is due in February, and we’ve got two machines already paid for. New business model James’ firm has a unique take on the ATM operator business model. Brazilian Firm Unveils First Bitcoin ATM in South America. Bitcoin ATM Installations Surge in Canada. Three cities in Canada are set to have bitcoin ATMs installed in the coming weeks, making the country the top ATM location in the world.
New ATMs will be installed in the Canadian capital city Ottawa as well as Montreal and financial hub Toronto. The ATM operators are announcing their plans to install machines across the country even as Canada’s central bank issued a statement yesterday declaring bitcoin is not recognised as legal tender there. Fadi Azouz, who operates the Montreal machine, said his ATM would be installed by 24th January at the Bitcoin Embassy in Montreal. It will take live rates from either BitStamp or the Canadian exchange Virtex and will charge a 5% fee for transactions. The ‘embassy’ is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting bitcoin. “The [statement] does not affect us at all. Azouz added that his company, Vx5 Technologies, will be installing and operating bitcoin ATMs in eight countries this year. ATMsBitaccessCanadaLamassuRobocoin. World's First Bitcoin ATM Is Announced - First Location: Cyprus.
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As background, a few months ago I was approached by two young entrepreneurs. They had purchased a semi-workable Bitcoin ATM off of another entrepreneur and were excited about the prospects and approached me to help with marketing to the public and prospective franchisees as well as garnering investment interest. It was a verbal handshake I had done via Skype from the jungles of Guyana while looking at a gold mining enterprise. I then set off on a month-long media sojourn which had me in all the mainstream media promoting BitcoinATM and had been approached by numerous investors interested in the project.
I then went to San Diego last week to nail down the final specifics with the two young entrepreneurs and flew in my top financial advisor, a past CFO of numerous billion dollar companies who has done business for decades worldwide, and what we uncovered was that this was not going to be as simple as we had hoped. First Bitcoin ATM's create secure exchange for currency. Skyhook’s Open-Source Bitcoin ATM Will Cost Under $1,000. There are a surprising number of bitcoin ATMs currently on the market for entrepreneurs willing to make an investment. Companies like Robocoin and Lamassu are building and selling ATMs that can exchange government-backed currencies for bitcoin all over the world. While hardware and software are readily available, the potential roadblock for many of these ATMs is compliance.
In many countries the regulation of virtual money transmitters is still something of a grey area. Additionally, some governments do not appear to be interested in hosting virtual currency ATMs at all. CoinDesk recently reported that Robocoin was shipping its machines over to Hong Kong and Taiwan at the very beginning of this year, however Taiwan decided to block the ATMs soon after. Building an ATM Jon Hannis, founder of Skyhook, told CoinDesk that it would only take one large operator to establish itself in the market for the bitcoin ATM floodgates to open. Hannis’ Skyhook project can be seen in the video below: